Bills rookie CB Kaiir Elam picks off Patrick Mahomes in the end zone

Buffalo Bills rookie CB Kaiir Elam had his second career interception at the best possible time — against Patrick Mahomes in the end zone.

The Buffalo Bills have been dealing with injuries in their secondary all season. Tre’Davious White, their best cornerback, is still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered last season. Safety Micah Hyde, 50% of the NFL’s best duo at his position when healthy, is out for the season with a neck injury. Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has been rotating guys in as need be throughout the season, and one of the stars so far has been rookie cornerback Kaiir Elam, the 23rd overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Florida.

Through the first five games of his inaugural NFL campaign, Elam had allowed 17 catches on 23 targets for 176 yards, 72 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, one interception, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 77.4.

And with 3:28 left in the first quarter of Sunday’s Bills-Chiefs game, Elam came up as big as he possibly could with this end zone interception of Patrick Mahomes, who was pressing to get a touchdown pass to receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Great, acrobatic catch by the rookie, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.